Since Katie’s been home, I’ve been keeping a sort-of chart of her medicine, weight, etc. Just to have it in one spot, I’m going to transcribe it on here. It’s such a great way to see how much she’s healing and how far she’s come in such a short time.
Sun Aug 15. Percocet….5xday; Lopressor 2xday. This continued until Wed Aug 18, when we found out she was allergic to the Percocet. So, Benadryl was added, the Percocet was replaced by Tramadol, and the Lopressor was no longer needed, either, as her heart rate was fine.
Thurs Aug 19. Tramadol 4xday; Benadryl at night. This schedule continued until Sun Aug 22.
Mon Aug 23 thru Wed Aug 25. Tramadol 3xday; Benadryl at night.
Thurs Aug 26 Tramadol one at night; Tylenol 2xday. Benadryl at night.
Fri Aug 27 Tramadol in morn; Tylenol 2xday; Benadryl at night.
Sat Aug 28 Tramadol in morn; Tylenol 2xday; Benadryl at night.
Sun Aug 29-Wed Sept 1 No Tramadol; only Tylenol 3xday; Benadryl at night.
Thurs Sept 2, Fri Sept 3 Tylenol 2xday; no Benadryl.
Sat Sept 4. Tylenol 2xday; started allergy medicine (Loratadine 10mg) and Nasonex.
The Tylenol and allergy medicine will probably be the norm from now on. She was also using some Ben Gay on her stiff neck while trying to figure out her pillow and sleeping-on-her-back-instead-of-stomach. However, today I think I finally got her to understand how much better she’d feel if she didn’t hold her shoulders, neck, and chest so stiff. She started to use her arms a little more and relax her upper self. She said she felt better. She was so afraid she’d move a sternum bone if she used any part of her “upper”. I convinced her that if she didn’t start relaxing her shoulders, etc, then once she went to cardiac rehab next week it would be harder than she thought. I love it when she takes my advice. ha
To watch out for any sudden swelling, she has to weigh herself every day. Because of the type of surgery, she had a lot of swelling when she came home, but the nurse assured us it would be gone very soon. In fact, there should be a decrease each day she got on the scale. Sure enough, there was. On Sun Aug 15 she was 205.6; for the first few days she was dropping two pounds of fluid a day. After that, it was a pound a day or a few ounces a day, but it was a steady decrease until today's weight of 195, which is about where she was before she went in for the valve replacement. Yay!!
The other gradual thing on her road to recovery is her "heart pillow". All heart surgery patients are given a handmade (as in made with love and care) heart-shaped pillow to hold against their chests when they are moving around, sneezing, coughing, getting in/out of chairs/bed/etc, and even when taking their walks. It's a great way to stabilize the muscles and bones as everything is healing. At first, she had that pillow with her constantly. Even on the walks outside she'd clutch that purple-flowered print pillow tightly to her chest so nothing moved as she walked. Eventually, she could go from one room to the other without it, and sometimes even forget where she left it; it became less of a sense of security and more of a "I really, really need it only when I sneeze/cough". She'd get up and down from a chair or in and out of bed without using it. On our walks, over the course of the weeks, she would use it for part of the walk, but walk normally--while holding it down by her side--for a lot of the walk. Lately, she has it with her since it's allergy season and it still hurts to sneeze. Also, she needs it when she laughs real hard, so when Jill The Awesome Beagle/Basset decides to stand in the corner of the front yard and Basset-howl her indignation at being left behind--again--Katie and I laugh so hard that she needs her pillow the most then.
One more "yay" moment....Katie was able to go without the very very uncomfortable TEN stockings she's had to wear ever since surgery. Well, not constantly, but for 12 hours every day. They are tight, tight, tight sort-of stockings that cover most of the foot and extend all the way up to the knee. They are made of extremely tight-"woven" elastic and nylon. The purpose of them is to keep your veins compressed enough that the blood doesn't pool in the feet, thereby causing a blood clot. They are necessary but not practical. Today was the first day she didn't have to put them on. Hurray!!!
All this doesn't seem like much improvement at the time of "whatever" is going on, but once it's looked back on, there's such a line of progression that it's amazing.
Til later…..
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